How to create the best checklist

If you’re an accountant or a bookkeeper, checklists are the most powerful tools in your business. They’re effective, reduce overwhelm, improve client retention, ensure consistency in your team and a lot more.

But how to create a checklist so it definitely helps you with all of the above?  

Here’s 7 elements that will help you ensure you are creating the best checklist for your needs.

7 Elements to create the best checklist

Logical sequence

A checklist must be in a logical order. It’s very important especially in accounting, bookkeeping and tax work as some tasks result in others. A clear logical order makes the whole task smooth and minimises confusion.

Direct

If you want to create the best checklists, make sure each element in a checklist is written as a clear action preventing any ambiguity. This means that sometimes you need to split a task into smaller actions that are direct and concise instead of bundling them together.

Minimalistic

When creating the best checklist, be minimalistic. It doesn’t mean you can’t have many steps in a checklist. As we know preparing annual accounts for your client may involve lots of steps. Especially for more complex clients. But make sure the items in your checklist don’t have unnecessary information. A checklist is not an essay on tax or accounting.

Checkable

It’s a great idea to use a system that will let you tick completed tasks so you can easily keep your progress up to date. This also make really easy for someone from your team to step in and take over if needed. You can use task management software for this like Asana or Monday.com. A spreadsheet can work well too unless you have a bigger team and/or lots of clients.

Specific

One of the most important elements when creating the best checklist is being specific. Tasks in a checklist must be precise so it’s very clear to everyone what needs to be done. Avoid general terms that can confuse your team or even you.

Flexible

The beauty of any checklist including checklists for accountants and bookkeepers is that they can be easily adapted. Tax rules can change, your client’s business can change and this can result in adjustment needed in your checklists.

Easily accessible

If you want to create the best checklist and you have a team, make sure it is easily accessible. Your checklist shouldn’t be a secret. At the end of the day, you want to create the best checklist to keep consistency and make your business efficient.